Summary: Al Capone Does My Shirts is about a boy who recently moved to Alcatraz Island to accommodate his father's job, and his struggles due to an autistic sister, a dangerously nonchalant friend, and living on Alcatraz. The story starts off with him just barely moving to Alcatraz, where he doesn't want to live (as his friends are all back home). His sister, Natalie, has high functioning autism, which had not been diagnosed at the time this book is set. His parents have tried everything for her, including voodoo dolls, Bible reading, and psychologist sessions. Now, they're trying to get her into the Esther P. Marinoff school, a prestigious academy for mentally handicapped children.
SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON!
She is rejected from the school and their parents, dejected, have to entrust her into the care of Moose, the main character, so that their mother can teach piano lessons to make ends meet. He's upset at her burden because he's embarrassed to take her outside where people can see her tantrums and awkwardness (as well as messing up his baseball schedule because of the embarrassment), but he ends up getting used to her. The warden's daughter, Piper, acts like an angel towards her dad, but a brat to Natalie and plans many rule-breaking schemes (sometimes involving Moose). She acts as a roadblock and antagonist towards Moose oftentimes, getting him in trouble when a money laundering (pun intended) scheme involving prisoners doing laundry for school students goes awry. Eventually, Moose's friend, Scout, finds out that prisoners play baseball at Alcatraz and sometimes accidentally throw the balls over the fence for the children's taking, and asks Moose for one. Moose, not wanting to lose his friend, looks for balls with Natalie staying a bit behind and looking for rocks about 6-7 times, but finds out that she had been sitting with one of the prisoners for a few of these occasions. He, understandably, got upset and feared the worst, but he was reassured eventually. After another while, the family tries to get Natalie into the EPM school again, but fails (though Natalie has matured quite a lot in the time between the first entrance attempt and now). In a last-ditch attempt to get her into the school, Moose writes a letter to Al Capone, who lives on the island, and asks him to use his influence to get Natalie in. Surprisingly to Moose, it works, and Mr. Purdy, the director of the school, suddenly allows Natalie to attend the school.
Plot: The plot is a bit hazy at first, causing me to wonder what the main point of the book was supposed to be, but it cleared up about at Part 2 of the book. Natalie ended up being a much more important character than I expected, and the plot was straightforward after Part 2 started.
Plot score (40% of the final score): 9/10.
Characters: I feel like the characters were the best part of the book. All of the primary characters and some of the secondary have very clear personalities. I would probably be able to identify any of them by a quote without needing to see their names. Sadly, a bit of an exception is the main character. He has a personality, but his dialogue and speech style aren't as unique as they could be. It's not a huge issue, however, considering the book does label who's speaking (as it should). The character development in Natalie is also very clear and visible. She subtly becomes better at communicating throughout the book, and it becomes noticeable if you look hard enough.
Character score (30% of the final score): 8.5/10.
Setting: The setting is a unique one; Alcatraz isn't a setting I've seen in a book before. It's a great place to hold the story, however, and increases to the effect that some of the family's problems have.
Setting score (10% of the final score): 10/10.
Mood/style: The book's genre is realistic fiction, clearly identified by the way it's written. Everything in it could be a real life scenario, despite what you might think going into the book with only its title as information. I like the way everything pans out, without every incident turning out well. There isn't too much joking inside the book, but in realistic fiction it's not likely to have much.
Mood score (20% of the final score): 10/10.
Overall score:
9/10
Please note that scores are rounded.
Scores calculated using Ben Eggleston's grade calculator.
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